4 Day Itinerary for June

I'm planning a 4-day trip to Olympic National Park and would love your advice on my itinerary. We are staying at Forks for 2 nights and Port Angeles for 2 nights.

For the last 2 days, should we do the Lake Crescent area instead of Cape Flattery or Mount Storm King? Or maybe move Hurricane Ridge to the drive back to Seattle?

Monday - Drive from Olympia to Lake Quinault - Lunch at Lake Quinault - Hike Quinault Rain Forest Nature Trail - Drive to Ruby Beach - Visit Ruby Beach - Visit Rialto Beach - Stay at Forks

Tuesday - Drive from Forks to Hoh Rainforest - Explore Spruce Nature Trail and Hall of Mosses Loop - Lunch at Hoh Rainforest Visitor Center - Hike the 5-Mile Island via Hoh River Trail - Stay at Forks

Wednesday - Drive from Forks to Cape Flattery - Hike the Cape Flattery Trail - Lunch - Hike Shi Shi Beach Trail or Cape Alava - Stay at Port Angeles

Thursday - Drive to Hurricane Ridge - Hike Hurricane Hill via Hurricane Ridge - Lunch - Hike Mount Storm King - Stay at Port Angeles

Friday - Drive to Seattle

in OlympicNationalParkby sameteeth

100%

29d

NotAcutallyaPanda

29d

Spruce RR trail is on the shore of Lake Crescent, far for the Hoh
Mt Storm King trailhead is at Lake Crescent, easy to combine with kayaking, swimming, or a meal at Lake Crescent Lodge
Definitely go to Hurricane Ridge. Check the webcam. Consider taking the free muni bus to the Ridge.
Cape Flattery and Shi Shi are lovely, but very remote. Similar fun with shorter drives by visiting Rialto Beach and Salt Creek Campground (at low tide for excellent tidepools)

ejtb1

29d

Spruce Nature Trail (in Hoh Rainforest) and Spruce Railroad trail (on Lake Crescent) are two different things. It’s confusing!!

NotAcutallyaPanda

29d

I stand corrected. Thanks

718lad

28d

Thanks for the info

sameteeth

29d

Thank you!

sameteeth

28d

We love visiting tide pools 👍

Jabeck62010

23d

What is the best beach for tide pools?

opsro

29d

Doing the boardwalk of the Cape Alava - Sand Point - Lake Ozette loop is an awesome 9 mile hike.

sameteeth

29d

Thank you!

Agathocles87

29d

Probably too ambitious, my friend. You’re going to have a magnificent time tho!

sameteeth

28d

Definitely excited. 😊

ejtb1

29d

I think your Monday seems like a lot, but you can always skip Rialto beach if you run out of time. Also your toughest hikes are last when you’re most tired… not much to do about that though. Otherwise it seems doable if you’re energetic!

sameteeth

28d

Great point. I should actually schedule a massage in the Seattle, at least for my wife.

Birdseye_Speedwell

28d

I wouldn’t move Hurricane Ridge to the day your driving back. The drive took more out of me than expected, I wouldn’t have wanted to do a hike before it.

I’d skip the bus and drive up to hurricane ridge as early as you can. My partner and I left Port Angeles around 5:30 am, and got to the Hurricane Ridge parking lot around 7am. Getting there that early had some benefits. There are less people up there that early, so you can park wherever you want and don’t have to walk up the trail with a bunch of other people. Less people equals more wildlife. We drove up and there was a heard of deer in the parking lot. We saw rabbits, marmots, and lots of birds on the hike up, and much less wildlife on the hike back down when there were more people. Pretty much the entire hike is in direct sunlight, so going earlier in the morning means less harsh sunlight.

When you’re in Port Angeles, there’s a great ice cream place called Wellys. They do New Zeland style ice cream (both sweet cream and non dairy) with fresh fruit and it’s quite tasty.

There’s also a great burger place, The Rail across the street and New Day Eatery is great for breakfast/brunch.

sameteeth

28d

Love this advice. Wildlife is definitely worth waking up early for, and not including Hurricane Ridge on the way back is a great tip. We visited New Zealand last year and definitely miss their ice cream. Thank you!